Lamborghini Huracan Serrato First Look: The Off-Road Supercar

Like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody expects the Sterrato! But here we are. Yes, friends, you are looking at a jacked-up, armor-plated, balloon-tired, off-road Lamborghini Huracán. For real? Yes, Lamborghini really built one. In fact, it built more than one, and I’ve already driven it, but drive impressions are embargoed until June 12. Because I can’t tell you if it’s any good (hint: no comment), allow me to share some details.

The Sterrato exists because while Lamborghini was developing the Urus, the engineering team fell in love with off-roading. As you might imagine, the makers of Aventadors and Huracáns had zero experience playing around in sand, mud, and gravel. As any off-roading aficionado can tell you, dirt’s a lot of fun! The Lamborghini team took what it learned from the Urus and applied it to a Huracán. Sterrato, roughly translated, means “dirt road.” The result is something truly unique. As Lamborghini the brand is fond of saying, “Expect the unexpected.”

Four big things turn a 630-hp Huracán Evo into a Sterrato. First comes stance. Lamborghini added 47mm (1.85 inches) of ride height while widening the track by 30mm (1.2 inches) front and rear. Next comes big, fat off-road tires. Made by Pirreli, the prototype meats are much, much fatter than the typical rubber found on a supercar. The sidewall looks to be three times thicker. So thick, in fact, that the front axle had to be moved forward, which required new front control arms. Moreover, the widened track necessitated the 3-D printing of new fenders front and rear.

After that came the armor. The nose, side sills, and rear end all get tough aluminum cladding. Lamborghini claims the plating was added to the spots that took damage during testing. And because the Sterrato is a Lamborghini, the rear piece is a functional diffuser. You can also see shields in front of the huge side intakes. Gotta keep the rocks out. Finally, the Evo’s Lamborghini Dynamic Vehicle Integration (LDVI) computers have been reprogrammed for dirt roads. LDVI controls the magnetic dampers, the torque-vectoring AWD, all-wheel steering, traction control, and the predictive yaw control (Lamborghini Piattaforma Inerziale).

Lamborghini also tossed on some hella-bright LED light bars for good measure. Why not?

The decision to put the Sterrato into production hasn’t been made. Yet. Is there a business case? Sure, assuming people buy them. Will people buy an off-road supercar? That’s the multimillion-dollar question. I imagine Ford went through a similar process when deciding whether to put the Raptor into series production. I believe we can all agree that flying truck is a runaway success story. This is different, but in a way, it’s not that different. Of course, the deciding factor for production will no doubt be how the Sterrato drives, especially off-road. In just eight short days from now, I’ll tell you all about it. Until June 12!

By: Jonny Lieberman, Jun 4, 2019

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Source: https://www.motortrend.com/